Bellevue man booked for murder after wife goes missing in Hawaii

HAWAII ISLAND -- A 43-year-old Bellevue man has been arrested on a second-degree murder charge after his wife went missing Tuesday night in Hawaii and a body matching her description was found Wednesday morning.

According to Hawai'i Island Police, the body was found near ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay in the district of South Kohala. The body has not been identified, but it was found in the area where 41-year-old Smriti Saxena of Bellevue was reported missing the night before.

Her husband, a 43-year-old Bellevue man, was arrested on a murder charge. Q13 typically does not name suspects until they have been formally charged.

According to Fox News, Smriti Saxena, a program manager for Microsoft, was last seen at the Lava Lava Beach Club in Waikoloa on Feb. 18 around 10:30 p.m.

Her husband, a Google project manager now accused of her murder, told a Hawaii newspaper that he had left his wife to go back to their hotel room and grab her asthma inhaler. He said he returned 40-50 minutes later and she was missing.

The couple had been married for 17 years and have two children, a 13-year-old and an 8-year-old, both of whom were with the couple in Hawaii.

Neighbors tell Q13 News the family lived in their Bellevue home for close to a decade. Joan O’Connor said Smriti was like her daughter.

“I don’t know what happened. He was great, he was lovely and I don’t understand it,” said O’Connor. “It’s emotional for me because they were a beautiful couple.”